As 2024 winds to a close, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative has been very active. Here are some of the updates:
Reflections on USTR’s Visit to the 50 States
U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai wrote an op-ed reflecting on her vision of the role of the USTR. She highlights that she and her team visited all 50 states during her tenure in office and shared key takeaways from her visits. Tai concludes that previous USTR officials focused too much on exports and “neglected to give enough consideration to imports, and the consequences of those imports on our workers and businesses.”
At USTR, we are no longer bound by false choices of “protectionism” or “free trade.” We can connect with our people, be responsive to their experiences, and craft a trade policy that moves away from ideology to more purposefully chart a course in which we shape trade rules so that they deliver better results for working people – here, and abroad.
Just before the Christmas holiday, U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai announced that USTR initiated a 301 investigation into “China’s acts, policies, and practices related to targeting of the semiconductor industry for dominance.” A docket for public comments on this investigation will open on January 6, 2025. You can find more information in the Federal Register notice. The comments and hearing will be overseen by the incoming Trump Administration.
USTR Requests USITC Investigation of Trade Distribution Effects on MSMEs in Underserved Communities
Last Friday the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative asked the U.S. International Trade Commission to investigate the “distributional effects of goods and services trade and trade policy on U.S. micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), with a focus on those owned or led by persons belonging to underserved and overburdened communities, including those based on race and ethnicity; gender; gender identity and orientation; age; skill, wage, and income; disability; rural location; or other factors” to ensure that U.S. trade policy “furthers its policy objectives of promoting economic security, supporting decent work, and advancing the health and security” of U.S. MSMEs. One of the sectors named in the request is “Textiles, such as yarns, fabrics, apparel, and other finished goods.”
The deadline for the report is December 2026.